Magnetic latch



A. G. JANOS MAGNETIC LATCH Nov. 19, 1957 Filed Oct. 5, 1955 FIC-3.3

INVENTOR ALFRED G. JANOS W HIS ATTORNEY tates Patet MAGNE'HC LATCHAlfred G. Janos, Louisville, Ky., assigner to General Electric Company,a corporation of New York Application ctober 5, 1955, Serial No. 538,736

el Claims. (Cl. 292-2515) The present invention relates to a magneticlatch and is more particularly concerned with a magnetic latcharrangement for cabinets such as refrigerator cabinets includingdouble-walled doors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved magneticlatch assembly including a simple and low cost arrangement for mountingthe assembly on a nonmagnetic supporting member.

lt is a more specific object of the present invention to provide amagnetic latch including a permanent magnet and cooperating pole piecesand simple and effective means for supporting these elements on anon-magnetic supporting structure such as the inner wall of arefrigerator door.

ln carryinry out the objects of the present invention, there is provideda magnetic latch comprising a magnet and a pair of pole piecesmagnetically engaging the opposite ends of the magnet. Means forsecuring these magnetic elements to a non-magnetic supporting Wallstructure comprises a pair of non-magnetic tubular members which looselyreceive and support the pole pieces and which are adapted to be receivedin suitable apertures provided in a supporting wall structure. Each ofthe tubular members includes flanges on the forward ends thereof which,in the final assembly, overlie the face or outer surface of the wallstructure. Longitudinal slots in the side wall of the tubular membersreceive the ends of the magnet so that it is in magnetic engagement withthe pole pieces carried within the tubular members. The magnet isengaged by clamping nuts threaded onto the opposite or rear ends of thetubular members and is thereby held in Contact with the rear surface ofthe supporting wall structure. This clamping action also serves to holdthe flanges tightly against the face portion of the supporting members.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view ofthe latch-side portion of a household refrigerator incorporating thepresent invention; v

Fig. 2 is a view of the magnetic latch of the present inventiongenerally along line 2 2 of Fig. l with parts broken away to show theinternal structure f the mounting means; and

Fig. 3 is a rear View of the latch structure with portions broken awaygenerally along the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, there is shown a portion of arefrigerator including a cabinet member 1 comprising an outer wall 2 anda spaced inner Wall 3, this inner Wall or liner 3 forming a storagecompartment within the cabinet. A heat insulating breaker strip 4- sealsthe space between the outer wall 2 and the inner wall 3 and suitableinsulation 5 is provided between these walls.

For closing the access opening to the storage compartment, there isprovided a door having an outer wall 6 and an inner wall 7, the innerwall being composed of a plastic or other suitable heat insulating andnon-magnetic material. Suitable insulation lills the space between theseinner and outer door walls. In accordance with the usual practice, acompressible gasket 9 is provided around the periphery of the storagecompartment access opening to seal the space between the door and thecabinet. It is to be understood that the door is pivotally mounted onthe cabinet by means of hinges (not shown) provided on the opposite sideof the door to that shown in Fig. 1.

For holding the door in a closed, gasket-sealing position, there is,provided a magnetic latch including a magnet assembly generallyindicated by the numeral 11 and a cooperating armature 12. In themodification shown, the magnet assembly 11 is mounted on thenon-magnetic inner wall structure 7 of the refrigerator door and thearmature 12, composed of magnetic material, is secured to thenon-magnetic breaker strip 41. In addition to a permanent magnet 13, themagnet assembly comprises a pair of cooperating pole pieces 1d which arein physical contact with the armature 12 when the door is in its closedposition.

In order to secure the magnetic elements 13 and 14 to the non-magneticwall 7, there is provided in accordance with the present invention apair of non-magnetic tubular members 16 which house or substantiallyenclose the pole pieces 1.4i. ln the preferred form of the inventionthese tubular members 16 have cylindrical inner walls and the poles 14are also of cylindrical shape but of a somewhat smaller diameter thanthe interior of the tubular members. Each of the pole pieces 14. isloosely connected to or supported by the tubular members and for thispurpose, each of the members 1o are preferably cupshaped so that thepoles 14 can be conveniently secured to the bottom walls 17 of themembers 16. As is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, each pole piece 14 ispreferably attached to the respective member 16 by means of a stud 18which extends through bottom wall 17 and is threaded axially into therear or inner end 19 of the pole piece. In order to provide for theaxial adjustment of the pole piece 14, means are provided for preventingrotation of the stud 18 when the pole piece is rotated about its axis.This means conveniently comprises a square or rectangular neck portion2li on the stud 18 which extends through a similarly shaped slot 21 inthe bottom portion 17 of the housing 16 and is anchored therein by meansof ears 22 on the ends of the stud, which ears are bent laterally tooverlie the washer 23.

Each of the tubular members 16 is provided with a longitudinal slot 25of a width sulicient to receive the arcuate or cylindrically groovedends 26 of the magnet 13 in such a manner that the ends 26 extendslightly into the interior of the tubular members 16.

For attaching this latch assembly to the non-magnetic wall structure 7,a pair of spaced apertures 24 are formed in the Wall 7 for receiving thetubular members 16. With the housings or tubular members 16 in place intheir respective apertures, the ends of magnet 13 are then inserted intothe opposed longitudinal grooves 25 so that the magnet is in contactwith the rear surface 3l) of the wall 7. ln order to rigidly mount theentire assembly on the wall 7, there is then required only the nuts 31threaded onto the rear ends of the tubular members 16 into contact withthe magnet 13. Upon tightening these nuts, the magnet is clamped firmlyinto engagement with the rear surface 3l) of the wall 7 and at the sametime the tubular housings 16 are anchored in the apertures 211 with theflanges 27 in contact with the face surface 28 of the Wall member 7. Themagnet and pole pieces are thereby firmly supported on the wall memberand the pole pieces 14 can be adjusted inwardly and outwardly or, inother words, axially, merely by rotation thereof relative to themounting stud 1S.

For the purpose of obtaining good magnetic engagement between the polepieces 14 and the ends 26 of the magnet, the magnet preferably extends aslight distance into the interior of the tubular member l and isprovided with arcuate end surfaces corresponding in curvature to thecylindrical surfaces of the poles 11i. Limited movement of the poleswithin the tubular housing members 16 is permitted by making the slot 2lslightly larger than the neck portions Ztl of the mounting studs 18 sothat the pole piece can move radially or laterally within the housing 16to establish a rm engagement with the magnet ends 26. To facilitiaterotation and adjustment of the pole pieces, the forward or exposed endsthereof may be suitably recessed as indicated by the numeral 35 toreceive an Allen head wrench.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there has been provided by thepresent invention a magnetic latch assembly which can be quickly andeasily mounted on a supporting wall structure and which requires onlythe mounting means to hold the magnet and pole pieces in operativerelation. Furthermore, the same mounting means can be employed formagnets of different lengths thereby permitting the use of the sameparts in the assembly of various latches including magnets of differentstrengths.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of thepresent invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes and modifications may be made without departing from theinvention, and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope ofthe invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

l. A magnetic latch for holding a door member in a closed positionrelative to a cabinet member and including a magnet assembly adapted tobe mounted essentially on the rear side of a non-magnetic Wall portionof one of said members, said assembly comprising a pair of nonmagnetictubular members each having a ange on the forward end thereof, saidtubular members being adapted to be positioned respectively incooperating spaced apertures provided in said wall portion with theanges thereof on the face side of said wall portion, a longitudinal slotin each tubular member, a magnet having the ends thereof respectivelyextending into said slots, a magnetic pole piece disposed within each ofsaid tubular members for magnetic engagement with the adjacent end ofsaid magnet, and anchoring means engaging the rear end portion magneticcup-shaped members each having a nage on the forward end thereof, saidcup-shaped members being adapted to be positioned respectively incooperating spaced apertures provided in said wall portion with thetianges thereof on the face side of said wall portion, a longitudinalslot in the side Wall of each cup-shaped member, a magnet having arcuateends respectively extending into said slots, a magnetic pole piecedisposed within each of said cup-shaped members for magnetic engagementwith the adjacent end of said magnet, and a nut threaded onto the bottomportion of each of said cup-shaped members and overlying the adjacentend of said magnet to clamp said magnet in contact with the rear face ofsaid wall portion and said flanges in engagement with the face side ofsaid wall portion.

3. A magnetic latch comprising a magnet, a pair of pole piecesmagnetically engaging the opposite ends of said magnet and means forsecuring said latch to a nonmagnetic supporting Wall structure having apair of spaced apertures therein, said securing means including a pairof nonmagnetic tubular members, each of said tubular members looselyreceiving and supporting one of said pole pieces and adapted to bedisposed in one of said apertures, each of said tubular members having alongitudinal slot therein for receiving one end of said magnetpositioned on the rear side of said wall structure, a flange on theforward end of each of said tubular members overlying the face surfaceof said wall structure, and anchoring of each of said tubular membersand overlying the adk the rear side of a non-magnetic wall portion ofone of said members, said assembly comprising a pair of nonmeans carriedby the opposite end of each of said tubular members for holding saidmagnet and said flanges in engagement with said wall structure.

4. A magnetic latch comprising a magnet having an arcuate recess in eachend thereof, a cylindrical pole piece disposed in each of said recess insaid magnet, and means for securing said magnet and pole pieces to anon-magnetic supporting wall structure having a pair of spaced aperturestherein, said securing means including a pair of nonmagnetic cup-shapedmembers, each of said cup-shaped members containing one of said polepieces and being adapted to be disposed in one of said apertures, a studeX tending loosely through the bottom of each of said cupshaped membersand threaded axially into the pole piece contained therein, each of saidcup-shaped members having a longitudinal slot therein for receiving theadjacent end of said magnet positioned on the rear side of said wallstructure, a lange on the forward open end of each of said cup-shapedmembers overlying the face surface of said wall structure and a nutthreaded onto the bottom portion of each of said cup-shaped members forholding said magnet and said flanges in engagement with said wallstructure.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNTED STATES PATENTS 2,673,377Gaugler Mar. 30, 1954

